17 Fatally Burned In Condemned Hotel

Seventeen guests and employees trapped in their small rooms burned to death early Saturday in a central Taiwan hotel condemned last year as a fire hazard.

Guests were found burned beyond recognition in their rooms at the five-story Hawaii Sauna House in Taichung, which had been charged with fire code violations, police and city officials said.

The dead also included hotel employees. The only survivor was the hotel owner, who fled barefoot from his second-floor room, police said.

Although the fire apparently started from a short circuit or some other accidental cause, police arrested Chen Wen-chin on suspicion of homicide, saying as owner he may bear responsibility for the deaths.